True Character
by Rainstar of LightningClan
Summary: After a New Year's party leaves Forbes intoxicated...the only natural thing for Robert to do is take him to his tent...  ...SLASH!...Forbes/Shaw...The title is based on the quote from the beginning of the story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Yes it's been done(to death), but see, I don't care. ;) I like the idea of this prompt, and sometimes I think the only way Forbes would ever admit himself to Robert is under dire circumstances(as in "Admissions by Midnight") or under extreme inebriation, as is the case in this little fic. xP

And, yes, this is from a non-existenft scene from a party that I made up. I fancy it to be a New Year's party, because I want some cold weather right now, but alas, as I am in South Texas, the chances of that happening...are nil. So I shall make it up in the wonderful world of fanfic! ;D

**A/N 2**: After re-reading this story, it has occured to me how very badly that I made Forbes seem OOC, and I cannot begin to forgive myself for this, I can only say, do not mix Red Bull and sleep-deprivation while writing a fanfic. -face palm- However, I am still rather happy with this story, and should I countinue it, I will make them both very IN CHARACTER in ensuing chapters. I believe the reason I took so many liberties with Forbes is because he is so very intoxicated, and so therefore, his personality is different, ie: his "true character comes out." ;)

Also, I am very nervous about posting this because it seems to be not as "elegant" as my previous Glory!fic, and I noticed that that is what my reviewers liked the most, and so, if this is not up to the same par, please do let me know, and especially tell me what you would change/fix. Thank you my lovely readers! ^^;

~Rainy

EDIT (01/16/11):

So...as I posted on "Admissions" I foolishly put the lovely Robert as a General, not as his proper rank of Colonel. My tragic mistake. -face palm- It had been a while since I'd seen the movie, and this detail had escaped my recollection. I'm sorry! I've now fixed it. ;)

**Prompt**_**:**  
...drunk..._

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___A man's true character comes out when he's drunk.  
**~Charlie Chaplin**_

_Approximately 1:00am, New Year's Day.__  
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Why was it that it always seemed like Forbes was the one who got drunk at these things? Honestly, there had been what? A few glasses of champagne..f_maybe_? But as per the norm, it seemed that his dear friend had somehow managed to track down something considerably stronger..and in quite a large quantity if the way he was leaning so heavily on Robert's smaller frame indicated.

"Major, if you insist on getting so thoroughly inebriated at these functions, I will have to start intervening on your behalf, and not allowing you to attend them any longer.

Forbes merely grinned at him and nodded dazedly while humming something that sounded like a butchered version of "Yankee Doodle."

"I'm serious you know, as your superior officer, I could bar you from any type of celebratory function or other," Robert insisted, attempting to get through the thick head of the Major.

"Lay- offof –mee-Robuurrtt!" the other man replied, his words coming out as a barely comprehensible, slurred, mess. " 't'was only a...NewYuurs..partyyy.." he added, with much difficulty. " 'nly happens..onceayuur, so..there," he concluded proudly, as if this was the most brilliant argument known to Man.

Robert shook his head in his frustration. "You are very lucky that you are my friend, Major," he said, indulgently, "or else you would be suspended, more than likely, for setting such a poor example for your troops," he admonished lightly. Though, it was rare, in his opinion, when Forbes did set a good example. However, despite how "irked" he was, he knew he couldn't just deposit the good Major in his tent, as he might choke on his own spit..or worse..in the night. And really? The Union did not have the resources to be replacing majors, especially ones that died of their own, stupid, volition. Therefore, he led him, staggering as he did so, through the cold air and dark sky that seemed to always be threatening snow, to his own tent and upon arrival, promptly plopped him down on the cot.

The Major laid back, his legs still hanging over the side, as if he'd been sitting on the edge of the thing and had merely laid down, rather than having been deposited, most ungracefully, by his somewhat peeved friend.

Robert took up residence in his desk chair, and he roughly pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to ward off the inevitable headache he was going to have, the one that he could already feel building at the back of his head.

The blonde man sitting/laying on the cot across his tent broke the silence that had begun to stretch between them. "Hey Robuurt..." he trilled, his voice holding a teasing lilt to which Robert responded by rolling his eyes. He supposed it could be worse, Forbes could be a mean drunk, rather than a loopy one.

When he got no response he attempted the greeting again, but this time he attempted to roll the "r" and ended up making a fool of himself, not that he noticed, of course. However, Shaw glanced up at him, "Yes, Major Forbes?" he asked tiredly.

Forbes grew silent once more, for which Robert was immensely thankful, but he began to notice that there was something akin to a pout developing on the Major's face. "You haven't called me...bymyfuuurst nammme, since I jjjoiined, yerr little regiment..thingy...Why?" Forbes asked, the final word sounding surprisingly lucid.

"Because," Robert responded, "It would not be proper, I'm your commanding officer, therefore, despite my friendship with you, I should address you as I would anybody else in the regiment," he explained, wondering if the Major would even remember any of this when morning came.

"Wwwouulldju..bring n-ebody ellsse to yerr tent?" he queried, his tone surprised and somewhat teasing once more.

Robert flushed a deep crimson as he realized the Major's implications that his lurid tone suggested. "Major!" his voice was accosted, and perhaps a bit embarrassed. "That is...That was highly uncalled for Major, and quite frankly, the implications you're even suggesting are scandalous and perverse!" Robert's tone held an edge of condemnation, and his eyes had been locked with Forbes' blue ones. So, he assumed it to be his own imagination when he thought he saw a flicker of disappointment and sadness flicker through their blue depths, but it was gone so quickly, he had no problem convincing himself of the much safer option that it was merely a play of candlelight.

"Wwhhatt...eef..." he cleared his throat and seemed to gather himself mentally before continuing, "What if, one of your troops...was of that perverse nature, Colonel?" he asked, his voice shockingly clear, with only the slightest touches of the previous slur.

"Then I would be forced to remove them from the regiment," Robert answered without even a second thought, except that now, he focused on some imaginary point, rather than his friend's face, perhaps he was afraid of what he might see written there.

Silence ensued as the Major thought delicately of his next choice of words. "...What if they felt these things, towards you, Colonel?" he spoke softly, but the words became slightly more slurred, as if the concentration was taking so much out of him.

At last, his eyes met Forbes' and he stared at him. It was then, that he knew, he knew what lay within the Major's heart and within his mind, and it terrified him.

"C-Cabot...what are you saying?" he asked, his voice hardly even above a whisper.

Forbes haltingly staggered to his feet and towards the seated Colonel, he leaned close to the seated figure, his eyes focusing closely on his face, taking in every feature, as if he was seeing it for the first time. "That's the first time, you've called me by my name...Colonel," and his voice had dropped to a decidedly dangerous register, and the words came out as more of a purr than actual speaking, and Shaw felt ice run down his spine. "I have been waiting for you to say my name..." he murmured, as if that was the reasoning behind his next action.

fHe gently caressed Robert's face and ran his tongue over the other man's lips, but he was not granted the entrance he sought, instead Robert stood stock-still, but he did not pull back, and that was progress as far as Forbes was concerned, and he smirked at that.

He decided to move on though, and to attempt to gain the Colonel's compliancy that way. He moved to Robert's ear and ran his tongue over the outer shell before nipping gently at the tender skin behind it, when he heard the softest gasp in response, his smirk only grew larger.

"Give in Robert," he purred, nipping a trail from his ear to the Colonel's jaw line, until he'd arrived once again at his lips, which the other man still had, infuriatingly so, closed tightly. "Come on...Colonel," he purred the title seductively and he felt Robert quiver slightly. Ah, so his friend had a power-complex, why did that not surprise him? But now was not the time to expound on that. Now was simply the time for getting his dear friend to relax. To relax enough to turn himself over to his experiences...to what he was feeling and to relax _into_ it, rather to rebel _against_ it.

"What harm could come of it?" he coaxed gently, now running his hands up and down Robert's sides, his palms meeting friction of the dark blue dress uniform's material. The dress uniform that he thought looked so _splendid_ on his dear friend, and it was the primary reason why he even put up with the mindless drivel that seemed in never-ending supply at the inane parties they went to. If only to see his Colonel in his dress uniform, that was enough, but it was not enough to make him forego drinking as an escape from the bane of actually having to make conversation with the idiots at those parties.

"I could lose my rank, as could you," his breath caught as Forbes' teeth scraped along his neck, "And if our government sees fit to follow how England deals with such acts, we could both be killed.." he trailed off, and his voice grew weaker, which he feared mirrored the way his resolved was currently going.

"Then, it will be our secret," he whispered conspiratorially, now kissing his way up the Colonel's neck and stopping at his lips once more. "Please Robert, just once," he pleaded, his voice a tone that he would never say was begging, but sounded especially close.

Robert stared at his friend carefully, gauging him, as one might say. This was Cabot, his dear friend! How could he allow himself to become a willing participant of whatever he was playing at? He didn't even know if Forbes was sober right now, he didn't know if he would even remember any of this in the morning. Yet, it was because of these reasons, because he was his dear friend, and because there was the slightest chance he mightn't remember anything at all, and perhaps a deeper part of him, that lingered in the shadows and whispered sinful things to him, that he relented.

He wrapped his arms around Forbes' neck as he pushed himself into a standing position, and kissed him back, albeit tentatively, but Forbes could not have cared. It was enough, and he insistently ran his tongue across Robert's lips once more and was overjoyed when he was granted entrance at last, he delved deeply into his Colonel's mouth, his tongue sweeping across every part of it that he could reach. He didn't know if this would truly be the only "one time" that he was given, and if it was, he was most certainly going to take it. He allowed his arms to settle tightly about Robert's waist and held him close, to which Robert squirmed slightly in response, which did nothing to help the fire burning in Forbes' stomach.

With their arms still twined about one another, Forbes walked them backwards towards the cot and pulled Robert with him down onto it. Robert felt panic begin to stir in him. He couldn't do this! He couldn't allow this to happen! He didn't want...the last thought broke off half-way through its panicked, rapid-fire processing, he couldn't truly admit that, even to himself. Admitting that he didn't want this would mean that he would have to admit that every part of his body wasn't on fire right now, that his every nerve-ending wasn't tingling at the feel of Cabot's body pressed so closely to his, and he would have to admit that the fluttering in his chest were just some strange heart-palpitations brought on by stress. Yet, the panic still began to take hold of him and he looked up to meet Forbes' eyes to tell him as much when he discovered that the Major was sound asleep.

Apparently, somewhere in the time it had taken the panic to begin to flare in Robert's brain and while their lips had been broken apart for a few moments, the alcohol and severe inebriation of his dear friend had taken their toll, and now he was "sleeping it off," and he would no doubt awake with a severe "hangover," and would probably not be present for morning roll call, once again, Major Forbes setting a wonderful example for his men.

Sighing, Robert disentangled himself and settled Forbes so that it his body was stretched along the cot, and he pulled a blanket over him, as the night's chill began to make itself known as it bit into his skin even through the tent.

With his friend taken care of, Robert collapsed back into his chair, his eyes losing focus as his thoughts began to swirl in one jumbled mess, thoughts that wanted to know why he'd allowed himself to relent, why he'd allowed Forbes to take advantage of him...if such a thing had actually occurred. These thoughts wanted to know what the strange "heart palpitations" were, and why, the more he thought about it, this wasn't the first time that they had occurred, and why, it seemed, that every instance where they had occurred had happened around Major Forbes? He sighed, resting his head back against the chair, he was exhausted and he didn't feel like dwelling on these thoughts any longer, they alone took enough out of him. Unaware, he brought his fingertips to his lips, as if he could still feel the fire of Forbes' own upon them, as if they had branded him with their searing heat. He shook his head, and dropped his hand. It didn't matter anyway, Forbes wouldn't remember anything come dawn's first light, it was a mistake, that was all, and it wouldn't happen again. Robert couldn't convince himself that the slightly twinge of pain he had at that thought was imaginary, and that terrified him most of all.

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**Review..? ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So, I continued it. :) I received a lot of encouragment and kind words, for which I am eternally grateful! Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! You guys keep me writing when I feel like dying from AP Exam studying! D: _

_~~Please let me know what elements of this chapter you liked, what you want to see more of, etc...Also, if a particular line "worked" for you, or really "squicked" you, let me know, please! :D~~_

_++ I'm looking for a beta for this story, as well. So if anyone is interested, please message me! Thanks! ++_

_**~*~*~**Also, one last thing, the wonderful amazing _**AnnabellandEdwardForeva**_ made the most gorgeous, sultry trailer for this fic! You MUST go see it! The link is on her profile under "True Character." It's...it's just amazing! Go give her love! ;D **~*~*~**_

_Now onto the story... _

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_**January 1~The Next Morning**_

Major Forbes' eyes blinked open wearily, and he instantly slammed them shut once again. The horrendous beast of Light was shooting rivulets of pain through his eyes, and she was laughing at him as she did so. She mocked his pain by seemingly getting brighter, and still managing to shine through the folds of his eyes lids. She danced around him, playing dapples across his severely rumpled uniform, and refusing to grant him the repose his aching head so desired.

Realizing it was a battle he was going to make little headway in, and being the brilliant strategist he was, he decided to surrender, and he allowed his eyes to open, slowly though, and with his hands shading his eyes against the celestial onslaught. Cabot groaned as he rolled over onto his back and felt around on the ground beside his cot for his boots. When his questing hand met no success, he furrowed his brow before he realized they were on his feet already...or was it..still? This would not mark the first, or likely the last, time that he passed out from drunkenness, however, as his eyes met the sight of an impressive desk made of a dark-stained wood, it occurred to him that this was not even close to the same level as those previous instances.

He was in Robert's tent. All right. That was incredibly odd. He knew he'd been with Robert last night at the New Year's Eve Party, the one for all the officers and "uppity-ups" of the near-by military establishments. His face twitched even at the memory of all the faux-smiling he'd had to slap on, solely for appearance's sake..well, also for Robert's sake. He'd wanted to please his Colonel.

He smirked to himself. _Oh if only Robert knew..._He breathed a small laugh at the mental image of how Robert would flush if he only knew an iota of the thoughts in his friend's mind. He would be /most/ accosted, and would attempt to persuade Cabot of all the reasons why their interaction would not be a prudent choice, and the Major knew he would be able to persuade his Colonel through certain means that he knew he possessed, he smiled a little to himself.

That image was actually startlingly clear. He could picture exactly how the exchange would go, and could nearly hear, verbatim, what Robert would say...

Panic set in hard and fast in Cabot's chest. Why couldn't he remember what happened last night? Somehow he'd ended up in Robert's tent, in Robert's bed! Cabot sprung to his booted-feet, all previous feelings of languor vanished, except for a lingering sense of dizziness as his head attempted to readjust to the sudden change in altitude. Oh God...Cabot's palm flew to the side of his face and his eyes screwed shut again, this time in a furious storm of emotions. Please God, do not have let him...He could not even bear the thought.

He attempted to convince himself that, drunk or sober, there was no way he would admit his true feelings to his friend. Surely he had a better sense of self-preservation than that? With another groan, he had a sudden image flash across his eyelids of himself wading into a swamp, bare from the waist up, a wine bottle held above his head as he sang something that he thinks he might've believed was Italian?..in the middle of the night. Then again, maybe he was more a self-endangering drunk than he had previous thought. Because, there was nothing more self-endangering than admitting to your same-gender friend, that is a superior officer to yourself, that you have feelings- hopefully that was all he said?—for them. That would be, essentially, signing his own death warrant. He swallowed heavily.

He began to collect himself. That was only the worst-case scenario. Best case? He had crashed onto Robert's bed and the other man was simply too exasperated with his inebriated friend to move him. That was a much more likely occurrence. It was only his slightly-paranoid side that had forced him to instantly jump to the wrong conclusion. Forbes smiled, he would certainly be fine. He looked at the clock on Robert's desk. Well, not fine because he had missed Roll Call and Robert would have his hide, but, he would be all right for the most part.

Forbes sighed in relief and pulled his uniform jacket down and attempted to smooth the wrinkles out of it with his palms, by running them down his sides as best he could. He winced, realizing it was a lost cause, and merely ran his fingers through his disastrous hair before he pivoted, once again to his equilibrium's discontent, and strode towards the flap of the tent.

He reached forward to move the fabric and it revealed the stature of the very cause of his poor, already-exhausted brain's turmoil.

"Ah..M-Major Forbes," the hesitation was evident in the Colonel's voice, as was the blush that quickly spread across his face, "I'm glad to see that you're up and about. You missed Roll Call..again." As Robert spoke, his voice changed from the bashful tone Forbes would swear he'd heard at first, to his commanding, 'I'm-in-charge-listen-to-me' voice.

Forbes' face transformed into its usual devil-may-care expression and his customary smirk fell into place. "My apologies Colonel, I seem to have missed the morning wake-up call, as I was not in my normal sleeping arrangement."

The blush on Robert's face seemed to deepen, and Cabot hoped that it was merely because of the half-hearted innuendo, not because of whatever had happened—He cut that thought off before it had a chance to run wild again.

"Yes, that happens when you consume more alcohol than is prudent for someone who must be up with the sun," Robert responded easily, never seeming to miss a beat.

Forbes conceded that point with a nod of his head and another upturn of his lips. "Of course my dear Colonel, I shall refrain from drinking ever again, cross my heart!" He traced a small 'X' over the left side of his chest.

Robert, seeming to start a little at the preamble added before his rank, cracked his ramrod straight expression and adopted a smile of his own, shaking his head. "I would not say that Major, as I do not fancy losing one of my best officers to a premature heart attack," he quipped.

Forbes laughed and shook his head, "Ah, I must say that you would, most unfortunately, but more than likely, be correct." The Major extended his hand in a grand mock-bow gesture and smiled, "I bid the adieu, Colonel, parting is such sweet sorrow," he grinned before disappearing out of the tent.

Robert nodded before walking into his tent and collapsing into his desk chair, his hand flying to his forehead. Perhaps...just perhaps the Major hadn't remembered a thing from last night..He felt relief course through him at the possibility. It would be so much easier if he could forget it as well, then they could just pretend it never happened. So..why did he feel a stubborn niggling of regret in the back of his mind at that thought? Robert groaned, this was going to be much more complicated than he thought...

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_Review...?_


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